ecovillagefandomcom-20200214-history
Investing in YES
Reasons to increase investment in the Yarrow EcoVillage Background Investment is required to support the cash flow for our project. The following analysis provides a for rationale for investing in the project. What we have achieved First we looked at our achievements. There have been many successes. Since April 2002, our group has: *Purchased the 25 acre (10 hectare) of property for $573,500 (including an extra (half acre portion on the creek). A mortgage was secured for $415,000 (current balance $385,000). *Formed a cooperative—the Yarrow EcoVillage Society Cooperative—and set out rules and agreements for stewardship of the land. *Created a vision for the ecovillage with supporting principles and strategies. *Initiated a co-design process with the City of Chilliwack and the neighbouring community. *Created a concept plan for the ecovillage. *Applied for, and received, approval to rezone part of the front five acres of our property to build a commercial/residential building. *Built a group with 26 memberships; a total of 35 members and joint members. *Begun farming the land and received certified organic status in 2004. *Hosted a permaculture design workshop. *Completed many improvements to the property: **Upgrades and improvements to the big farmhouse; **clean-up around the property; **added a greenhouse and shed for the farmers. **re-roofed the pump house. **protected the roof of the machine shop. *'Rented' space to bring in extra revenue. *Effectively used consensus decision-makingBold text in all our decisions. *'Invested' $224,465 in the project. Why additional investment is needed Next we looked at why more investment is required. The following are some areas where money is needed: #Our revenues are currently less than expenses. This is partly because we are paying $800 in principle on our mortgage each month and partly related to our investment in rezoning. #There is a continuing need for upkeep and maintenance of buildings on the property. #Further investment is required to provide improvements to some of the structures. The roof on the main barn is in critical need of repair. Leaving this for much longer may result is us losing the building. #There are ongoing administrative expenses. What happens if we do not increase investment? We then looked at what happens if we don’t invest more money or generate more income. The following should be borne in mind: #If we don’t have money for the mortgage we could go into foreclosure. #The barn, which is in need of major roof work, may be lost and the value of our assets would be reduced. #We could be forced to sell and lose our dream. If we invest more money will there be a positive financial return? This is the question that we needed to address for ourselves so that we could get behind investing more is: Does it make financial sense to put more money into this project? Our answers #We have achieved a great deal over the last three years, with a positive response from Yarrow citizens. #We suspect that the value of the land, buildings and rezoning may be worth much more than what we paid. Our total shortfall based on the original purchase price is about $21,000 whereas the increase in value is likely to be between $300,000 and $500,000. #We continue to attract new members and energy to improve our property. The bottom line is that we are encouraged to invest more money if the majority of the membership also see that this project continues to make sense and are willing to continue to invest.